Liverpool 5 Arsenal 1: ‘Incredible’ display delights Brendan Rodgers
Liverpool 5 Arsenal 1: Brendan Rodgers praises his Reds side after a blistering performance sinks the Gunners
Brendan Rodgers heaped praise on his Liverpool side for an “incredible” performance after the Reds tore Arsenal to shreds at Anfield.
Reds defender Martin Skrtel finished from six yards after less than a minute, before guiding a header home for his second shortly after.
Rodgers’ men poured forward at every opportunity and Raheem Sterling tapped in before Daniel Sturridge added a fourth before half-time at Anfield.
The confidence comes from hard work. You get your success from that
Arsene Wenger
Sterling then netted the fifth from close range in the 52nd minute, before Mikel Arteta dispatched his penalty after Steven Gerrard had brought down Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
But despite the commanding manner of their victory and cutting the gap to Arsenal to five points, Rodgers was quick to dismiss talk of a title push.
“[A title challenge] is not in our thinking to be honest,” Rodgers told BT Sport. “It was an incredible performance. It’s not the first time we’ve been outstanding at home but I thought everything about our game today was incredible.
“We’ve been continually getting better and better. We’ve got a lot of young players and they’re developing very well.
“For us, it’s just about improving. Today I asked us to focus on the performance and when we perform well, the results will come. It was an amazing performance against an outstanding side and it continues our great work.
“The confidence comes from hard work. You get your success from that. The players prepare themselves well every day and work tirelessly.
“As a group they’re so honest and take on board the ideas that we’re trying to implement and they go into the games with confidence that they can win it. When you do that to a big opponent then it just shows you how far and how quickly we are progressing.”
Rodgers added: “We’ve got our feet on the floor. It’s a wonderful day, great for the supporters – the atmosphere was electric again. We’ll recover well now, enjoy it, and get ready for Wednesday.”
